Goaltending Has Never Been a Problem For The Belleville Bulls

In Belleville the Bulls have had some very good goaltenders over the years. It started early with NHL Alumni Darren Pang who was in goal for the 1st win in Belleville Bulls OHL history and now with 2012 NHL 1st round draft pick of the Boston Bruins Malcolm Subban and with his understudy Charlie Graham the future looks bright. The Bulls have had six goaltenders drafted to the NHL and have had 14 drafted tenders in total play for them. With four playing in the NHL in some capacity. We've broke the list down in to Coaches Years categories. These are the Bulls best to play in the OHL and a few of our favourites.

The Mavety/Flynn Years 1981-1997

Darren Pang: "Panger" was the 1st goalie drafted in Team History and was in net for the 1st win in team history playing with the Bulls from the 81-82. Most of his OHL success came with the Ottawa 67's where he won the Memorial Cup in 1984, while garnering the Top goalie and All-Star team awards. He played in the NHL for the Blackhawks and has gone on to be a successful Hockey Analyst.

Craig Billington: Played with theBulls from 83-86. He was Drafted 23rd Overall by New Jersey 1984. Billington played 332 games in the NHL with the Devils (85-93), Senators (93-95), Bruins (95-96), Avalanche (96-99), and the Capitals (99-03). As a member of the Bulls he played for Team Canada at the World Jr's. Winning Gold in 1985 and Silver in 86. He picked up the Directorate Award (Best Goaltender), at the 1985 IIHF World Jr Championships. He helped lead the Bulls to the OHL Final in 1986 were they lost to the Guelph Platers. He was an OHL First Team All Star and the winner of the Bobby Smith Trophy (OHL Scholastic Player of the Year) in 84-85

In the 1989-90 season Jeff Fife was an OHL First Team All-Star, and took home the OHL Goaltender of the Year award.

Derek Wikinson was a fan favourite the minute he landed in Belleville after coming over in a trade from the Jr. Redwings in 1992-93. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning 145th overall in 1992, when he was playing for Detroit. He went on to play in the NHL on and off from 1995 to 1999. In Belleville he is remembered for almost single handily ousting the heavily favourite Oshawa Generals in the 1993 playoffs Only to lose in game 7.

The Crawford/Hulton/Boyd Years 1997-2004

Cory Campbell played for the Bulls from the 1998-99 season to the start of the 2000-01 season. Back stopping the Bulls to their only J. Ross Robertson Cup in 1999. He was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team and was named a First Team All-Rookie the same year. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings #92 overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

Jan Chovan was drafted 213th overall in 2001 by the Toronto Maple Leafs and played for Slovakia the same year in the World Jr Tournament.

Micheal Mole played for the Bulls from 2001-03. Mike won the Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy (OHL Humanitarian of the Year) and was an OHL Third Team All Star in 2002-03. In 2006-07 Mole was called up to the New York Islanders, he didn't play in the game but was dressed as the back up.

Eric Tobia started his career in Belleville in 2001-02 under James Hulton and ended in 2004-05 under George Burnett. Tobia didn't win any awards and was never drafted but he was the goalie on some of the weakest teams in Bulls history. and every night he gave the Bulls a chance to win, facing easily 40+ shots a game. Few players were as proud of being a Belleville Bull as Eric Tobia was.

Before we start the Burnett Years, what about the ones that got away. we mentioned The success Darren Pang had with the 67's but there has been others, Darren Puppa was drafted by the Bulls but he obtained a scholarship from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York State where he attended classes and backstopped the school's hockey team from 1983 to 1985. Paulo Colaiacovo started his OHL career with the Bulls playing in Belleville from 2000 to 2002. After being traded to Barrie he won OHL Goaltender of the year and was a 1st team All Star in 2004. He's a championship and was an all star in the CHL (Central Hockey League). He also won both the National Cup and Dutch Championship with Tilburg Trappers while playing in the Netherlands. We seen Edward Pasquale have a nice OHL career in Saginaw, that lead to Pasquale being drafted to the NHL by the Atlanta Thrashers franchise. Philipp Grubauer has been drafted by the Washington Capitals and after leaving the Bulls, he helped Windsor win the OHL Championship and the Memorial Cup. This season Grubauer was named an ECHL All-Star and is currently playing in the AHL. Tyson Teichmann won a OHL Championship after leaving the Bulls with the London Knights. Tyson's father Brad also played for the Bulls. Sebastian Dahm had a nice OHL career after leaving the Bulls helping Sudbury reach the OHL Final.

The Burnett Years 2004-05 to the Present

We call these the the Burnett years but it could easily be the Sebastien Frarrese years. Farrese has been the goalie coach in Belleville since 2005.

Kevin Lalande started his Bulls tenure in 2003 and it ended in 2007 with a trip to the Eastern conference Final. One of the 1st goalie's that Farrese worked with was Kevin Lalande. It helped Lalande be drafted 128th by the Calgary Flames in 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Lalande has been playing in the KHL the last few seasons and has obtained his Belarusian citizenship with the hopes of maybe playing for their National Team

For my money Mike Murphy is not only the Best Bulls goaltender of all time, but he is one of the Best to ever play in the OHL. Murphy was money for the Bulls, every game that "Murph" dressed, fans of the Belleville Bulls were certain they would win. Mike played in 124 games in the OHL for the Bulls with a record of 85-32-10. In the playoffs, Murphy played 36 games and had a record of 24-11. He lead the Bulls in to the 2008 OHL playoffs and had the Inverary native not been hurt and missed half of the OHL final, Who Knows ?? The OHL and CHL also recognized Mike, he was twice selected as a OHL First All-Star (2008, 2009), CHL Second All-Star 2008 and CHL First All-Star 2009. Murphy is the only goaltender in OHL history to win goaltender of the year twice winning it back to back in 2008 and 2009. For good measure he added CHL goaltender of the year in 2009. In 2012 Murphy was called up to the NHL by the Carolina Hurricanes and see spot duty in two games, He holds the record for being the only goalie with a loss and a 0.00 GAA. Mike was playing in the KHL early this season.

In 2011-2012 Charlie Graham was rushed in to duty as a 16 year old when the Bulls ran in to injury trouble. He seen action in 12 games and played well. This season coming in it was clear that Malcolm Subban would play the bulk of games. But Charlie knew that he would have to be prepared when ever his number was called. He was. In his 1st start this season he shut out the Battalion 2-0. Graham would get his chance to play everyday when Malcolm was away with Team Canada and he stepped in and didn't miss a beat, starting 11 straight games and going 7-3-0-1. In total Charlie has appeared in 15 games this season posting 2 shut outs and going 9-5-0-2 with a 2.40 GAA and a .926 SV%. His fine play hasn't gone unnotcied he was the 21st ranked North American goaltender and 5th among OHL netminders by the National Hockey League's Central Scouting Bureau in its Midterm Draft Rankings. Goaltending in Belleville looks as bright as Charlie's pads

What can we tell you about Malcolm Subban that you don't already know ? Malcolm has been in the hockey spot light for the last two years. Malcolm Subban is one of the best goaltenders in the world at his age and he countuies to get better. Malcolm's rise to the top is well documented and is a real nice hockey story. Here is a kid who starts playing goal around 13-14 years old, gets drafted late in to the OHL (11th RD 2009), flourishs in the OHL, becomes a shoot out master, plays well enough to be drafted by the Boston Bruins 24th over all in 2012. Only to come back this season healthy and ready to go and he has been very good and gives the Bulls a chance to win every game he plays. Malcolm is among the leauge leaders in goalie stats and his fine play lead to a spot on Team Canada at WJC. The Bulls have a lot of eggs in the basket this season, they're going for it. Malcolm Subban is a real big part of what they are trying to do. Malcolm played well for Canada and won some big games, he also lost a big game. I think the lose helps him and makes him a better player in the long run. Coach Burnett has said that he knows and trusts that Malcolm will bounce back and that he can handle it like the Pro he is. Malcolm is the Bulls MVP and has been for a while now and he has proved to everyone that he can carry this club, and there isn't one person in Belleville who dosen't think he can't this spring.

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